Percentages worth noting

Published: Sunday, August 31, 2014 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 5:48 p.m.

It seems the people of Marion County think things are going pretty darn well in our community. On primary election day Tuesday, just 16.5 percent of the county’s 216,391 voters cast ballots, even though a majority of the School Board seats and a critical County Commission seat were up for grabs.

The 16 percent figure sounds bad, but Judi Zanetti, executive director of the Marion County Education Foundation, put it into even better perspective Thursday night when she spoke at the rollout of the new community education initiative “Engage in Education.”

In urging those in attendance to go out and try to get more people in our community involved in education, that is, in uplifting our community, she noted that on Tuesday 84 percent of the voters didn’t bother to do their civic duty.

Wow. Eight-four percent didn’t care or didn’t bother or didn’t know enough to vote. And Marion County was hardly alone. Heck, in Palm Beach County the turnout was 10 percent.

I’m not sure what that says about our electorate or our government, but I’m certain whatever it says, it’s not good. A friend of mine, a lifelong resident of Ocala, actually said to me, “I’m glad I didn’t vote. It wouldn’t do any good anyway. None of them are worth a damn.” How sad. How scary. Alas, the voters, it appears, are surrendering to the ruling class without a fight.

AMAZING SCHOOL STAT: We hear plenty of bad things about our school system, but a sticky note on the door jamb of school district spokesman Kevin Christian’s office should not only give us hope but motivation to do whatever we can to make our public schools better.

The note has just two numbers scribbled on it: 97.1 and 2.9.

The 97.1 is the percentage of Marion County’s 42,000 students who never get “a referral” — a note teachers fill out when sending a kid to the office for discipline — throughout the school year. Those kids who show up every day prepared to learn, ready to do what is expected of them and who want a good education.

The 2.9 percent represent those who disrupt classes and teachers’ work.

That would be one student in a class of 30 — and yes there are more than a few classes with 30 students in Marion County since the School Board decided to make violating the class-size amendment district policy. But ask any teacher how much chaos that one student can cause, and they will tell you plenty.

PAYCHECK PROBLEM: Tomorrow is Labor Day, and I ask Ocala/Marion County’s leaders to pause and consider one more percentage figure: 75.

Whenever our city, county and economic development leadership make a decision — any decision — they should do so by keeping in mind that the average local paycheck is only 75 percent of the average Florida paycheck and about 65 percent of the average U.S. paycheck.

If we hope to raise up the community, our people need to see a raise in their paychecks. It will take time, but it can be done.

<p>It seems the people of Marion County think things are going pretty darn well in our community. On primary election day Tuesday, just 16.5 percent of the county's 216,391 voters cast ballots, even though a majority of the School Board seats and a critical County Commission seat were up for grabs.</p><p>The 16 percent figure sounds bad, but Judi Zanetti, executive director of the Marion County Education Foundation, put it into even better perspective Thursday night when she spoke at the rollout of the new community education initiative “Engage in Education.”</p><p>In urging those in attendance to go out and try to get more people in our community involved in education, that is, in uplifting our community, she noted that on Tuesday 84 percent of the voters didn't bother to do their civic duty.</p><p>Wow. Eight-four percent didn't care or didn't bother or didn't know enough to vote. And Marion County was hardly alone. Heck, in Palm Beach County the turnout was 10 percent.</p><p>I'm not sure what that says about our electorate or our government, but I'm certain whatever it says, it's not good. A friend of mine, a lifelong resident of Ocala, actually said to me, “I'm glad I didn't vote. It wouldn't do any good anyway. None of them are worth a damn.” How sad. How scary. Alas, the voters, it appears, are surrendering to the ruling class without a fight.</p><p><b>AMAZING SCHOOL STAT</b>: We hear plenty of bad things about our school system, but a sticky note on the door jamb of school district spokesman Kevin Christian's office should not only give us hope but motivation to do whatever we can to make our public schools better.</p><p>The note has just two numbers scribbled on it: 97.1 and 2.9.</p><p>The 97.1 is the percentage of Marion County's 42,000 students who never get “a referral” — a note teachers fill out when sending a kid to the office for discipline — throughout the school year. Those kids who show up every day prepared to learn, ready to do what is expected of them and who want a good education.</p><p>The 2.9 percent represent those who disrupt classes and teachers' work.</p><p>That would be one student in a class of 30 — and yes there are more than a few classes with 30 students in Marion County since the School Board decided to make violating the class-size amendment district policy. But ask any teacher how much chaos that one student can cause, and they will tell you plenty.</p><p><b>PAYCHECK PROBLEM</b>: Tomorrow is Labor Day, and I ask Ocala/Marion County's leaders to pause and consider one more percentage figure: 75.</p><p>Whenever our city, county and economic development leadership make a decision — any decision — they should do so by keeping in mind that the average local paycheck is only 75 percent of the average Florida paycheck and about 65 percent of the average U.S. paycheck.</p><p>If we hope to raise up the community, our people need to see a raise in their paychecks. It will take time, but it can be done.</p>